Over 7,000 students sit P.S.E.

Today marks day one of the annual Primary School Examination. All across the country, thirty six high schools y are being used to host students from two hundred and seventy four primary schools. You may have noticed the smiling faces and the energy rushing out of the high schools as the primary school students ended their day in a new environment. According to Yvonne Davis, Principal Education Officer for National Exams, a total of three thousand five hundred and sixty two females and three thousand six hundred and fourteen males sat the first part of the exam.

Yvonne Davis, Principal Education Officer for National Exams

“Today is day one of P.S.E. for 2012 and the students from primary schools get to write two exams: English with two papers and Science, a multiple choice paper with fifty questions. As you know the P.S.E. is the end of primary school exam and it looks at the achievement levels of students coming out of the system. Along with the standard six students, we also have students who are looking for a second chance; those from some of the alternative institutions such as the YWCA and Friends Boys School and we have a number of private candidates sitting the test as well.”

Jose Sanchez

Yvonne Davis

“How many students you have more or less that signed up for today’s event?”

Yvonne Davis

“Today we have a registered count of seven thousand done hundred and seventy-six and this represents a four percent increase from last year.”

Jose Sanchez

“You have any reason for that account?”

Yvonne Davis

“I believe it’s just the movement of the population from time to time. We normally expect these numbers to go up each year and this year it did. We had a couple of years when the numbers went down, but this year it went up.”

Jose Sanchez

“Looking back at your statistics for last and previous years has anything been changed for administering exams this year or techniques teachers were given to assess or teach their students?”

Yvonne Davis

“Well the P.S.E. is a standardized exam in terms of the procedures we use. Every year it is the same standard procedures. The exam is administered at the secondary schools with permission from BAPSS, the Belize Association of Principals for Secondary Schools, they administer the exams for us and the procedures remain the same each year.”

On May seventh, standard six primary school students will sit for the second half of the P.S.E. Students will write Mathematics Paper One and Two. they will also complete the Social Studies Multiple Choice Paper which consists of fifty questions.

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